Santa Cruz County Government Articles

How a recent policy with bureaucratic-sounding name ‘Consumer Choice Aggregation’ delivers clean energy from renewable sources more efficiently to California consumers, potentially helping to roll back climate change.

County sheriffs have tended to be predominantly white, male and politically conservative. But in California, those trends may be moving in the other direction, as recent elections and legislation appear to show.

California is headed for a new COVID surge as BA.5, the most contagious variant of the virus yet discovered, arrives in the state, apparently causing an uptick in hospitalizations and deaths.

California's assault weapons ban, in place since 1989, may not stand up to a new Supreme Court decision that makes it much harder for states to impose gun control. A federal court brief filed June 30 aims to strike down …

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is turning his sights on one of the most important press freedom cases, 'New York Times v. Sullivan.' Thomas says he wants to make it easier to sue media companies.

SB 911, a bill to publicly fund journalism in California, narrowly advances to Assembly Appropriations Committee; faces opposition from ethnic media publishers.

If Clarence Thomas gets his way, the Supreme Court won't stop at revoking the right to abortion. Same sex marriage, contraception and gay sex are likely to be next on the SCOTUS hit list.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that after overturning Roe v. Wade SCOTUS must now overturn decisions allowing same-sex marriage and contraception. Here's why.

The U.S. Supreme Court scaled back California's Private Attorney Generals Act, a 19-year-old law allowing workers to sue employers over labor code violations. But a new ballot initiate aims to repeal PAGA completely.

Gov. Newsom and the state legislature should consider allocating $40 billion of the state's $97 billion surplus to subsidize the building of low-income housing.

A Texas law that would have placed cumbersome restrictions on social media companies has been blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court, in an unusual alliance between liberal and conservative justices.

California may soon shut down its last nuclear power plant, but Gov. Gavin Newsom who once championed the closure has had a change of heart. Federal funds may now keep the plant running.

SB 911 would provide $50M in public funding for journalism in California. It is heading to the state Senate floor with outside support still tepid.

The 'Washington Post' descends on the "capital of Blue State America" to expose the ongoing homeless crisis in Sacramento.

Elon Musk may be the latest, but billionaires have been buying media outlets for decades. What does that mean for the control of news and information at a time when a free press is more important than ever?

Abortion rights will remain protected, even expanded in California after the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, Gov. Gavin Newsom vows after a leaked SCOTUS opinion reveals the court plans to abolish the right to choose.

Code violations, even after they're fixed, can cost struggling homeowners their homes. Some have seen fees and fines into the six figures even after repairs. Here are some of the horror stories. But what can be done about it?

California has a new plan for dealing with COVID as the disease becomes endemic. But does that mean the pandemic is over? Here’s what Gov. Newsom is proposing.

The modern gun control movement started in California. Surprisingly, it was the work of Ronald Regan and the Black Panther Party. Here’s what happened.

California has lost 25 percent of its newspapers and seen a circulation plummet over the past 15 years. A bill in the State Legislature, SB 911, could help.